Shabana Azmi reveals heated debates with Zoya Akhtar over 'Female Director' label

Shabana Azmi has recently featured in the Netflix series 'Dabba Cartel' which offers an insightful exploration of middle-class women operating a clandestine tiffin service. In a recent interview, the actress recalled the concept of "women-centric" storytelling, noting that Zoya Akhtar prefers not to be categorized as a "female director."
Talking to Pinkvilla, Shabana discussed the concept of labeling content as "women-centric." She shared that she has had numerous debates with Zoya Akhtar on this topic. Azmi noted that Zoya dislikes being referred to as a "female director," suggesting that such labels are unnecessary.
Azmi further expressed her thoughts on the visibility of women in cinema, stating, "I wonder about that. Because I feel there is so little visibility for women that... they are controlling the show, they're leading the show... I think it is important to bring that to the audience's notice." She hopes that as women become more prominent, it will eventually become common enough that highlighting their roles won't be necessary. Currently, however, she believes it's crucial to emphasize their contributions to increase visibility.
When asked if discontinuing the term "women-centric" would lead to its disappearance from audience discussions, Shabana replied, "It is not like that at all; the journey is still very far."
Shabana further elaborated on her conversation with Zoya, stating, "Zoya said, 'Why should I be called a woman filmmaker?' I replied, 'But I think it's very important.' I believe men and women are different, not better or worse, just different. This difference should be celebrated." Azmi emphasized that a female filmmaker's perspective can contain a wide range of subjects, from strong women to complex characters like thieves or queens, across various genres.
'Dabba Cartel' features Shabana Azmi, Jyotika, Nimisha Sajayan, Shalini Pandey, and Anjali Anand. Other notable actors in the series are Gajraj Rao, Sai Tamhankar, Jisshu Sengupta, Lillete Dubey, and Bhupendra Singh Jadawat. The series is directed by Hitesh Bhatia.